BOLD CAMPAIGN ENCOURAGES SOUTH AFRICANS TO DRIVE DRY

As a first of its kind, the ground-breaking campaign partnered with Drive Dry and South African hip-hop artist, Nomuzi Mabena to combat drinking and driving behaviours

Volkswagen in partnership with Drive Dry is urging South Africans to celebrate life responsibly in 2019 by changing #MonatiHaoFeli (the party doesn’t stop) to #MonatiWaFela (the party does stop).

Johannesburg -
December in South Africa typically sees a culture of ‘the party doesn’t stop‘,
#MonatiHaoFeli, until it does, #MonatiWaFela. This month, as South Africans are
making their new year’s resolutions, Volkswagen in partnership with Drive Dry,
a Diageo South Africa initiative, seek to make a positive change when it comes
to drinking and driving by urging people to pledge to #VWDriveDry in 2019 in
order to make the party stop before their life does.

The
#MonatiWaFela campaign which kicked off in December 2018, saw popular hip-hop
artist Nomuzi Mabena who goes by the stage name Moozlie, posting images on her
social media pages which were indicative of drinking and driving. She was seen
getting behind the wheel shortly after partying, making stops at a popular fast
food outlet at 2am with a red beer cup, sharing her secrets on avoiding metro
police, and blatantly drinking what appears to be gin, all whilst behind the
driver’s wheel. Her holiday culminates in a heart-stopping live Instagram
video, whilst Moozlie is talking about her dreams for 2019. Within seconds
there is a sudden screech and crash and the audience realises that she has been
in a car accident. For 12 hours after the accident is shared across social
media, fans speculated and contemplated the reality of what they had just
witnessed.

After an
agonising day of her fans imagining the pain she and her family must be going
through and reflecting on their own beliefs and behaviours, Volkswagen, Moozlie
and Drive Dry released a video which revealed the truth about the accident. The
crash and all subsequent posts leading up to it were staged in order to drive a
powerful message home.

With
another December of devastating road fatalities, many caused by drinking and
driving, Volkswagen and Drive Dry wanted to create an impactful campaign that
will make South Africans wake up to the realities of the behaviours that are
condoned on social media. The campaign aims to inspire drivers to make a
behavioural change and think twice before drinking and driving. The campaign
also hopes to encourage friends and family to speak out against their
loved-ones when they identify signs of drinking and driving.

“We wanted
to showcase the journey and the consequences that can occur when drinking and
driving is condoned. It is time for us as South Africans to take a pledge and
make the change to ensure safer roads,” said Nomuzi ‘Moozlie’ Mabena.

‘‘By
tapping into the insights of social media behaviour, we wanted to create an
introspective campaign, where South Africans could reflect on condoning
drinking and driving. The seemingly harmless behaviour at the time can have
detrimental effects on road users around you and your loved-ones that you leave
behind,‘‘ commented Andile Dlamini, Head of VWSA Group Communications.

There have
been close to 14 000 road fatalities in South Africa every year, for the last
three years. Drinking and driving, according to the World Health Organisation
(WHO), has caused 58% of those fatalities. “With these kinds of statistics, our
mandate is even more pertinent than ever. Our goal is to contribute to the WHO
target of reducing harmful drinking by 10% by 2025. If one person decides to
make a change in their behaviour, that one change could be one less fatality on
our roads, and every life counts,” said Lebogang Mashigo, Alcohol in Society
Manager at Diageo SA.

Take the
pledge and make the change to Drive Dry in 2019. Share your pledge by
hashtagging #VWDriveDry on social media.